Friday Fictioneers : A soul full of longing for the secrets of the sea*

 

PHOTO PROMPT © Fatima Fakier Deria

 

It was the cargo that made him yearn to leave: the scent of sherry seeping through the barrel staves; the woody aroma of tobacco, leaves greasy and fibrous beneath his palms; bananas green as limes, ripening to sweetness snug in their wooden crates.

Through the years he watched the cargo ships come and go, crusted with salt and barnacles, his own feet planted firmly on the dockside.

One day he was gone. Some say he drank too deep and slipped beneath the dun waters. Others liked to imagine a stowaway, a stranger scented with tobacco … and a whiff of sherry.

 

Written for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers. See the pic and write a tale and see here to join in and to read the other, fantastic stories.

*The title is a misquote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Secret of the Sea.

56 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers : A soul full of longing for the secrets of the sea*”

  4. As well as the sensual richness I liked the alliterations — the hard ‘c’s suggesting permanence and substance, the sibillant ‘s’ sounds conjuring up the soughing of wind and slup of water in exotic places.

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    1. Thanks so much Rochelle. I’m glad the descriptions worked for you – I do have such fun playing with them! Thanks for reading and the kind comment

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  11. This definitely was a feast for my eyes, for my senses.. I absolutely loved this, Lynn! And I so hope he managed to slip onto one and start a fabulous journey of his own

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  19. One may never know where “the old man and sea” ended up on his “voyage to the center of the earth”. I can misquote in sentence form…it’s a gift… Hahahaaa! Feeling a bit punchy this morning. Great read!

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    1. I can imagine. Being in Bristol, with a harbour right in the middle of the city, and that harbour now regenerated into the hub of the town’s night life, we regularly have the same, sadly. Nights out that turn to tragedy

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    1. Thank you so much. Living in Bristol where we have the harbourside in the centre of the city, we’re forever reminded of its seafaring past. Of course now the warehouses are all cafes and museums and bars, but we still have the huge cranes that used to load the ships. Glad the story worked for you

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      2. Very true, though I’m glad the buildings were given new uses and not demolished. And the cranes often have acrobats suspended from them at festivals! 🙂

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